INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents national statistics about offenders aged 10 years and over who were proceeded against by police during the period 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013. The statistics provide a profile of the principal offence for which an offender was proceeded against and the characteristics of the offender (e.g. age and sex).

There were a total of 391,117 offenders proceeded against by police in Australia during 2012-13. This represented a 4% (14,671 offenders) increase from 2011-12, and equated to a national offender rate of 1,958 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 10 years and over in 2012-13. (Table 1)

Certain offences are excluded from the Recorded Crime - Offenders collection. For further information about the scope and counting methodology of the collection refer to paragraphs 3-16 of the Explanatory Notes.